


Class of One

by firenewt



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Gift Fic, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-01
Updated: 2017-08-01
Packaged: 2018-12-09 23:32:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11679387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firenewt/pseuds/firenewt
Summary: Kunsel helps out a friend, because that's the kind of guy he is!





	Class of One

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kunselxknows](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=kunselxknows).



> I wrote this for kunselxknows on Tumblr, who wanted a fluffy friendship fic featuring Kunsel. The title refers to there being one person in the "class", and also to the fact that Kunsel is in a class of his own.... and is classy :)
> 
> Also, I tried to stay true to kunselxknows interpretation of Kunsel, both physically and in personality.

CLASS OF ONE

[txt] DUDE. I scored the mission to Costa! So stoked!

[txt] Congrats, bro! You’ll love it there. Sunshine, swimming and ‘Sex on the Beach’!

[txt] OH NO

[txt] What?

[txt] Swimming!

[txt] Yeah!

[txt] NO

[txt] People practically live in the water there. You’ll love it.

[txt] DUDE I CANT SWIM

[txt] Wut?? But you have to swim! I mean not if you don’t want to when you’re on leave but for the mission!

[txt] I CANT!

[txt] How is that even possible??

[txt] I’ll have to tell Lazard I don’t want the mission after all.

[txt] No wait! Are you sure you can’t swim even a little??

[txt] No. I sink. And drown.

[txt] Ok ok, I’ll teach you. You can do it! We’ll get you ready to go! Don’t scratch your name!

[txt] Really?

[txt] Sure thing! You’ll be a regular mermaid by the time you go!

[txt] Dude, I’m a guy.

[txt] So rumor has it. I guess we’ll find out!

[txt] I’m not sure I want to do this.

[txt] Yes you do.

[txt] No cameras, ok! Or I’ll tell Genesis who leaked the pictures of him at the last Yule party!

[txt] You sure know how to spoil a guy’s fun but alright.

[txt] Promise?

[txt] Cross my true and virtuous heart.

[txt] You better!

[txt] Meet me at the pool tomorrow at 19:00 hours.

********************************************************

At 18:00 hours, Kunsel was swimming laps in the huge SOLDIER training pool. Being a native Costan himself, he had practically grown up in the ocean and swam like an otter. Back and forth he went, using various strokes, churning the water and leaving a foamy wake behind him. Waves spread across the pool and washed against the far sides. When he felt nice and loose, he turned on his back and floated comfortably with his eyes closed. He found that shutting off his vision enhanced his other senses and gave him a “picture” of his surroundings that was more detailed and nuanced than what sight alone could provide. Wearing his helmet gave a similar effect, though he would never admit this to anyone. It would be hard to explain.

When he heard the door to the locker room squeak open and then bang shut, he flipped half over and did a lazy side-stroke to the side of the pool. He hoisted himself out in one smooth motion, then hopped on one foot for a minute to dislodge some water from his left ear. Then he stood, hands on hips and his black hair slicked back like a seal, frowning at the spectacle in front of him.

Luxiere stood pressed against the concrete wall outside the locker room. Standard military issue towels were not big or thick but he clutched his firmly to himself, providing as much protective coverage as possible. His mako blue eyes were wide and his brown hair stuck out in all directions. He was biting his lower lip nervously.

Kunsel shook his head. “Come on, now. Get over here and get in the water. You’re not going to learn anything without getting wet.”

“I don’t want to.” 

“Do you want to go on the mission? The mission that has a bonus attached to it, and puts you in line for a possible commendation?”

“Yeeeessss…..”

“Then get in the water before I throw you in!” Kunsel gave his friend an encouraging smile, though his words were tough and he was not above following through on them if necessary.

With a huge sigh, Luxiere reluctantly let the towel drop, and then slowly approached the side of the pool. Kunsel gulped back a laugh, not wanting to make his friend feel any more uncomfortable or self conscious than he already was. Although he was finely muscled as all SOLDIERs were, Luxiere’s pasty white skin shadowed by sparse dark hair on his chest and legs contrasted starkly with Kunsel’s naturally darker skin and smooth chest. Kunsel’s own black competition swim trunks fit him sleekly and highlighted his muscular butt and thighs, not leaving much to the imagination, but Luxiere wore a pair of large baggy board shorts, bright green with black and yellow stripes down the sides and of a rather shiny mottled pattern. His sad expression and his shoulders hunched up protectively around his ears made him look like a turtle depressed because its shell had slipped from where it should be. 

Although Kunsel kept a straight face, he couldn’t help a light comment. “Was Supply all out of swim trunks?”

Luxiere glowered at him. “I like some colour, okay! And these give the boys some room to breathe!” He stood at the edge of the pool and looked down at the now still surface of the water. “Because breathing is important. We need to breathe!” he muttered unhappily.

“Of course we do!” Kunsel stepped up beside his friend, toes gripping the edge, then leaned forward and dove cleanly into the water. 

Luxiere gasped and flung out a hand to stop him, turning even more pale, if that was possible. “KUNSEL!!”

A dark shape bunched up then straightened deep underwater, then shot upward, and Kunsel’s dark head popped above the surface and he shook the water from his eyes, grinning. “Now come on in! The water’s fine!”

“No! No way! I cannot…I WILL not do that!” Luxiere shook his head violently, backing away, hands out in front of him.

Kunsel moved to the edge, hooking an elbow over it. “Look, Lux. You’ve only got two days before you ship out. This is really your only chance. I don’t know how you managed to get this far without knowing how to swim, but you can’t dodge it any more. Not if you want to get anywhere in SOLDIER. And not if you want to avoid a reprimand for failing a competency.” He jerked his chin toward the pool. “I’m trying to help you! Now get over here. You don’t have to dive in. Just sit down here on the edge and stick your big feet in to start with!”

“I hate you!” Luxiere grumbled, but he grudgingly complied, carefully sitting down on the concrete, then gingerly swinging his legs around and letting his feet dangle into the water. His face scrunched up in fear.

“Of course you do,” Kunsel chuckled, then snorted at the other man’s expression. “It’s just water, dude! It’s not like something’s going to wrap its tentacles around you and pull you down to a watery grave!”

Luxiere whimpered at the thought. “It might! You never know! Hojo might be keeping some monster in the pool that we don’t know about!”

“Ooh, yes, Shinny, the Shin-Ra Monster. Did you miss those briefings? Twelve feet long, jaws full of venomous fangs, and twenty-eight tentacles just waiting to suck onto you and pull you under! Like THIS!” And Kunsel yanked Luxiere off the edge and hurled him into the middle of the pool. A bloodcurdling scream was cut short as Luxiere hit the water, his shorts ballooning hugely for a second with trapped air before he promptly sank like a stone, leaving nothing but a few bubbles on the surface.

Kunsel waited for a moment, fully expecting him to come thrashing to the surface. Maybe he couldn’t swim, but surely no SOLDIER could be totally incompetent in the water! But there was nothing, not even a ripple. 

“oopsie!” thought Kunsel, and dove. A few seconds later he dragged a gasping Luxiere to the surface and towed him to the side in a headlock. He guided Luxiere’s hands to the edge, but kept a grasp on him just in case he lost consciousness or went under again. “Sorry ‘bout that, bro,” he said sheepishly. 

“You tried to kill me!” Luxiere wheezed hoarsely, blinking wildly and trying to catch his breath.

“No, I didn’t! I learned that way! How was I supposed to know you have the buoyancy of a cannon ball!”

“I TOLD you I sink!”

“Alright, alright, I’m sorry. We’ll have to start with something even more basic, then.” Kunsel patted Luxiere’s shoulder reassuringly. “First, you need to learn how to put your face in the water. And let go of the edge. And then you need to learn how to float, so you don’t sink again. Then you’ll be able to drift on your back, and also do the classic dead man’s float.”

“DEAD MAN’S FLOAT??!!” Luxiere wailed in horror, the sound echoing off the high ceiling.

“Shhh! People will think I really AM trying to kill you!” Kunsel patted his shoulder reassuringly and decided not to tell his student why the maneuver was called that. “It’s just a name that, don’t freak out, it helps PREVENT you from dying, okay?”

Luxiere made some inarticulate gargling noises that sounded something like “whyshoulditrustyou!” 

“Okay, good!” said Kunsel, choosing to take the sounds for assent. “Now let go and let’s get to work!” He attempted to pry Luxiere’s white-knuckled grip off the edge of the pool.

“nnnaaaaaaahhhhhh…!!!!” Luxiere moaned, but he finally transferred his clutch from the concrete to Kunsel’s arm and allowed himself to be pulled away from his anchor and into the unknown.

“Ow ow ow! Loooosen up there a bit, buddy, okay! I won’t let you go again! We’ll just take it nice and slow!”

And true to his word, he didn’t. Where others might have turned the neophyte swimmer loose again, especially after he had learned to precariously float, Kunsel made sure to keep some sort of contact with him at all times. He held onto the back of Luxiere’s waistband while he attempted the dead man’s float, helping to keep his butt and legs up. He held one of Luxiere’s hands while he floated on his back, eyes and mouth tight shut in terror, making strangled whines as the water lapped over his ears and occasionally over his face. He supported him when Luxiere got water up his nose and choked painfully, thrashing around wildly for something to hang on to while he tried to breathe. He held both of Luxiere’s hands while they went under together to touch the bottom with their feet in the deep end and then push off and come back up….together. 

Eventually Kunsel cautiously let go while Luxiere mastered treading water. His head went under a few times, causing him to splutter and glub and flap his arms and legs frantically, but he controlled his panic and got back to bobbing properly each time, while Kunsel praised him and did victory laps around him. Luxiere couldn’t spare a breath to cheer but he managed a small grin before he lost his rhythm and went under again for a few seconds. Bloop!

It was after midnight and they’d been practicing for hours. It had been a marathon of not only physical but mental exertion; they were waterlogged and even their SOLDIER stamina was running low. But, finally, Kunsel swam backward right in front of Luxiere as he did a clumsy but effective dog paddle from the deep end to the shallow end, encouraging his friend the whole way. Luxiere held his head up at an awkward angle, grunting through clenched teeth, but kicking and paddling for all he was worth. 

“Come on, my little tadpole, just a bit more! Look at you go! You can do it! Keep your head up but relax! Don’t be so stiff! Just let the water help you!”

Luxiere puffed and blew like a whale snorting water out of its blow hole, and kept paddling determinedly, his eyes fixed on Kunsel’s beaming face and not looking around for the how far away the end of the pool was. And then suddenly he saw Kunsel was standing, water streaming off his shoulders. His own foot hit the concrete bottom of the pool on a down stroke; he cautiously put both feet down and felt a solid surface for the first time all evening, and he stood, too, feeling strangely heavy after hours of having the water support him. He felt a bit dizzy, and again Kunsel was there to steady him.

“Way to go, broski! You made it all the way across the pool without any help! You did it! I’m proud of you!” Kunsel shook Luxiere’s arm a little, getting in his face, as the man looked a little dazed and Kunsel wasn’t sure if he was going to faint.

Luxiere stared at his friend, whose mako eyes caught the light reflecting from the ceiling and the water and glowed against his darker face, and slowly started to smile. “I did it,” he said quietly. He wiped water off his forehead, looked around at the far end of the pool, half a mile away, and then back to where they were standing. “I did it!” he said more loudly. Then suddenly he flung himself at Kunsel, throwing his arms around his neck and his legs around his waist and squeezing him in an ecstatic hug. “I DID IT! I SWAM!!” he yelled jubilantly.

Kunsel staggered at the sudden glomp, his arms automatically going around Luxiere to support him, grateful for the support of the water which took some of the other SOLDIER’s weight. He winced as Luxiere yelled in his ear, but had to laugh at his enthusiasm. “Whoa, there!...um…” he hugged him back then gently tried to disentangle himself. “Yeah, you sure did! Well, maybe swam isn’t quite the right word. But you did a great job! Just keep your cool and remember the basics and you’ll be fine. You know enough now that you won’t drown.”

Luxiere let go and spread his tired arms and then let them flop, heaving a huge sigh. “No, I won’t. I won’t drown now!” He smiled again, shyly, at Kunsel and folded his arms across his chest and ducked his head. “Thanks, man. This was just……thanks.” 

Kunsel heard what he couldn’t say, and reached out, giving him a little shoulder punch. “Hey. No big deal. I’ve got your back. What’re friends for, eh?” He didn’t bother to say that this was only a beginning, and that swimming in the ocean was alot different than swimming in an indoor pool. Luxiere needed to hang onto his newfound confidence, and he would learn soon enough. But at least he wouldn’t drown.

“One last tip. Always use the ladder to get out of the pool safely. You won’t know how tired you are until you get out. Go on, you go first. The last thing I need is you slipping and hitting your head after I’ve gone to all the trouble to hammer things into it!”

Luxiere dutifully followed this last instruction and made his way up the ladder and out of the pool. Kunsel stayed behind him, making sure he was stable and steady on his feet to the very end. Luxiere’s board shorts slapped wetly against his legs, bunching in some places and clinging to other areas in a very nsfw way. The sodden weight of them dragged downward and Luxiere had to hold them up with one hand as the two SOLDIERs made their way to the locker room. Kunsel shook his head, grinning. “Seriously, dude. You’re lucky those didn’t fall off in the pool! You wear those on the mission and the rest of the guys will use your naked butt for shark bait!”

“I like my shorts!” Luxiere grumbled, pushing open the locker room door ahead of Kunsel.

“Then you better watch out for the Costan screaming watersnakes that’ll come up from below and grab your crazy ass…” Kunsel made ominous noises, “duh duh! duh duh! duh duh!....like THIS!” He grabbed Luxiere’s rear as he stepped into the locker room after him. 

And there was a shriek that was muffled as the door slammed shut. “I HATE YOU!!”

********************************************************

Two days later, Luxiere opened his duffle bag as his unit settled into their barracks in Costa del Sol. There, right on top, were a set of bright orange water wings and some swim goggles. Underneath these was a brand new pair of regulation swim trunks, in Second Class purple, covered with a pattern of little orange fish and one big orange fish, head pointing down, over the crotch.

A note pinned to them said “With extra breathable support, so you won’t be SOLDIER sushi. Swim well and prosper. Your friend, K.”


End file.
